Disposable telephone numbers

ABSTRACT

Methods, systems, and products are disclosed that provide disposable numbers for a conference service. A disposable number is assigned to a conference bridge that is only activated for a defined period of time, after which the disposable number is disposed and deactivated. A call is received to the disposable number, and the call is routed to the conference bridge. A database is queried that associates the disposable number to a subscriber&#39;s number. Subscriber information is retrieved that describes when a conference bridge subscription is active. If the conference bridge subscription is active, then a caller is connected to the conference bridge. If the conference bridge subscription is inactive, then the caller is prompted to pay for a conference service.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.13/936,230 filed Jul. 8, 2013 and since issued as U.S. Pat. No.8,774,384, which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.13/299,486 filed Nov. 18, 2011 and since issued as U.S. Pat. No.8,509,409, which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.12/283,446 filed Sep. 12, 2008 and since issued as U.S. Pat. No.8,085,921, which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.09/741,346 filed Dec. 21, 2000 and since issued as U.S. Pat. No.7,469,043, with all applications incorporated herein by reference intheir entireties.

BACKGROUND

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to telecommunications, and moreparticularly, to a system and method for providing a disposabletelephone number service to telephone service subscribers.

2. Background of the Invention

Privacy is important to most people. Therefore, many individuals try toprotect their privacy as much as possible. For example, many people donot want their telephone numbers be known to the public. To that end,they pay their telephone companies to avoid having their telephonenumbers published in telephone directories. Unfortunately, having anunpublished telephone number cannot completely prevent unwanted incomingcalls once a telephone number is voluntarily disclosed. The followingexamples illustrate the need for a disposable telephone number service.

First, consider a situation in which a host accommodates an out-of-townguest in her home for several days. While staying with the host, theguest has a need to receive telephone calls. The host agrees that theguest may disclose the host's telephone number to the guest's callers.The problem arises when the host continues to receive calls intended forthe guest after the guest has left.

Second, consider a husband who advertises his family telephone number onthe newspaper to sell a pick-up truck. The problem arises when he andhis wife continue to receive unwanted telephone calls about the pick-uptruck after the vehicle is sold. A different problem might exist even ifthe vehicle has not been sold. For example, the wife might not want toentertain any inquiry about the pick-up truck when the husband is notavailable.

Third, consider a single woman who has developed a friendship with a manover the Internet in a chat room, decides to have a telephoneconversation with the man. The woman gives her telephone number to theman, and he calls her. After the telephone conversation, the womandecides that she does not want to continue the relationship, and asksthe man not to call her again. The problem arises when the man continuesto call her despite her protests.

In each of the above examples, the problem could be solved by requestingthe telephone company to assign a new, perhaps unpublished, telephonenumber to replace the disclosed telephone number. However, this solutionis inconvenient, because the subscriber must then notify his or herfriends and relatives about the new telephone number.

Accordingly, there is a need for a disposable telephone number service.The service preferably uses a disposable telephone number that can beused for a definite period of time. A caller dialing the disposabletelephone number during the definite period of time is connected to thesubscriber of the service. The service can preferably be flexible sothat the subscriber can deactivate the service during certain part ofthe day or certain days of the week.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The system of the present invention comprises a database and a routingdevice. The database can comprise subscriber information of a subscriberof the present invention. The subscriber information may include a truetelephone number of the subscriber. The subscriber information mayfurther include specific call routing instructions received from thesubscriber. The subscriber information may be retrieved from thedatabase using a disposable telephone number that is assigned to thesubscriber. The disposable telephone number preferably has arecognizable NPA (the numbering plan area or more commonly known as thearea code) that is dedicated for all disposable telephone numbers.

The routing device is adapted to receive a call that comprises thedisposable telephone number as the called number. When the routingdevice receives the call, it consults the database. The routing devicecan then process the call in accordance with the subscriber information.For example, if the subscriber information indicates that the subscriberdoes not want to receive the call at that time, the routing device mayplay an announcement to the caller that the subscriber does not receivecalls at that time. On the other hand, if the subscriber informationindicates that the subscriber does receive calls at that time, therouting device forwards the call to the true telephone number of thesubscriber.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide adisposable telephone number service to help subscribers protect theirprivacy.

It is another object of the present invention to allow subscribers todefine when telephone calls may be routed to their telephones.

These and other objects of the present invention are described ingreater detail in the detailed description of the invention, theappended drawings, and the attached claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the system architecture of a firstpreferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating the steps involved in using the firstpreferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing a second preferred embodiment ofthe system architecture of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating the steps involved in using thesecond preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing a third preferred embodiment ofthe system architecture of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating the steps involved in using the thirdpreferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing a fourth preferred embodiment ofthe system architecture of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating the steps involved in using thefourth preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram showing the system architecture of thepresent invention.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating the steps involved in using thearchitecture of FIG. 9.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a first preferred embodiment ofthe system architecture of the present invention. In this embodiment, aswitch may be dedicated to implement the present invention. For example,dedicated switch 130 shown in FIG. 1 may be used in conjunction withother components of telephone network 100 to implement the presentinvention. Dedicated switch 130 may be any of several types of suitabletelecommunications switches. For example, dedicated switch 130 may be atandem switch, a local switch, or other switches with similarcapabilities.

Telephone network 100 may further comprise, for example, SSP 114 and SSP124. SSP 114 and SSP 124 can be any of several types of suitableswitches that are commonly used in central offices to route calls. Inthe context of an advanced intelligent network (AIN), SSP 114 and SSP124 may be two service switching points.

SSP 114 may be connected to customer premises equipment (CPE) 112 ofsubscriber 110. Similarly, SSP 124 may be connected to CPE 122 of caller120. Although it is shown in FIG. 1 that subscriber 110 and caller 120are connected to two different SSPs, it is possible that the two partiesmay share one common SSP. CPE 112 and CPE 122 may be any suitableequipment. For example, CPE 112 and CPE 122 may be telephone sets. As itwould be apparent to one skilled in the art, the present invention maybe adapted for use in a wireless telephone network.

Dedicated switch 130 may be a delayed recent change switch. Dedicatedswitch 130 may comprise an internal clock. The internal clock may be setto activate dedicated switch 130 during specific time periods. Forexample, the clock may be set to activate dedicated switch 130 fromFebruary 1 to February 28, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Preferably, adatabase is used to perform the timing function that activates ordeactivates the disposable telephone number capability. Examples of asuitable dedicated switch 130 include model 5ESS manufactured by LucentTechnologies and model DMS-100 manufactured by Nortel Networks.

The system preferably comprises a database. For example, dedicatedswitch 130 may be connected to database 132. Database 132 can comprise alook up table. The look up table preferably relates disposable telephonenumbers to true telephone numbers. In the preferred embodiment, when adisposable telephone number is received by dedicated switch 130, a truetelephone number that is related to or associated with the disposabletelephone number can be retrieved from database 132.

For example, assume that subscriber 110 has a true telephone number(123) 456-7890. Subscriber 110 may obtain a disposable telephone numberfrom a service provider of the present invention. The disposabletelephone number may be, for example, (999) 332-2323. The serviceprovider may then associate the disposable telephone number with thetrue telephone number in a look up table. The look up table may bestored in database 132. The look up table may be, for example, as shownin Table 1 below.

TABLE 1 An Example of a Look Up Table Disposable telephone TrueTelephone number Subscriber Number 999-332-2323 Subscriber 110123-456-7890

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating the steps involved in using the firstpreferred embodiment in accordance with the present invention. In step202, subscriber 110 can be assigned or provided with a disposabletelephone number. The disposable telephone number preferably has aprefix or an NPA that is dedicated for all disposable telephone numbers.For example, a telephone number having the 10-digit format ofNPA-NXX-XXXX with the NPA being “999” may be recognized as a disposabletelephone number of the present invention. In a specific example,subscriber 110 may be provided with the disposable telephone number999-332-2323. Alternatively, a seven-digit format may be used fordisposable numbers on a regional basis. For example, within one or morearea codes, the NXX part of the NXX-XXXX may be an exchange such as“999.”

In step 204, the disposable telephone number can be related to orassociated with a true telephone number of subscriber 110. For example,the 999-332-2323 disposable telephone number can be associated with the123-456-7890 true telephone number of subscriber 110.

In step 206, the relationship between the disposable telephone numberand the true telephone number may be stored. Preferably, therelationship is stored in a database. The database may be database 132shown in FIG. 1. Database 132 may comprises a look up table that relatesthe disposable telephone number to the true telephone number. Again,Table 1 above is an example of the look up table.

In step 208, the disposable telephone number may be given to a callerfrom whom subscriber 110 wishes to receive a telephone call, but to whomsubscriber 110 does not want to disclose the true telephone number. Forexample, subscriber 110 may provide the 999-332-2323 disposabletelephone number to caller 120 without giving caller 120 the123-456-7890 true telephone number.

In step 210, when caller 120 uses CPE 122 to dial 999-332-2323, SSP 124recognizes that the call is intended for a disposable telephone numberservice subscriber because of the 999 NPA. In step 212, SSP 124 routesthe call to a dedicated switch specifically provided for routingdisposable telephone number calls. The dedicated switch may be dedicatedswitch 130.

In step 214, dedicated switch 130 consults database 132. For example,dedicated switch 130 may be programmed to access the look up table(e.g., Table 1) that contains the relationship between the disposabletelephone number and the true telephone number.

In the preferred embodiment, the look up table may further compriseadditional subscriber information. For example, the look up table mayfurther comprise subscriber information shown in Table 2 below.

TABLE 2 Additional Subscriber Information True Telephone Number ConnectCall During Play Announcement 123-456-7890 9 am to 5 pm At other times

In step 216, Table 2 may be consulted by dedicated switch 130. In afirst example, assume that caller 120 dials the disposable telephonenumber at 10 am. In this example, the applicable subscriber informationretrieved from Table 2 would be to connect the call to the truetelephone number. Routing of the call to the true telephone number maybe performed in step 218.

Otherwise, in a second example in which caller 120 dials the disposabletelephone number between 5 pm and 9 am, the applicable subscriberinformation retrieved from Table 2 would be to play an announcement. Theannouncement may be played in step 220. The announcement may be, forexample: “The subscriber of the disposable telephone number 999-332-2323does not receive calls at this time. Please try to call again between 9am and 5 pm.”

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing the system architecture of asecond preferred embodiment of the present invention. In thisembodiment, a service provider of the present invention may assign adisposable telephone number to a conference bridge. All calls dialingthe disposable telephone number can be routed to the conference bridge.The conference bridge may be provided in the system architecture asconference bridge 330 in FIG. 3. Preferably, a meet-me conference bridgeis used as conference bridge 330. An example of suitable meet-meconference bridge is that which is provided in the Nortel NetworksDMS-100 switching system and populated in table “MMCONF” in the DMSsystem. Suitable hardware may include NT1X81AA and NT3X6AA of theDMS-100 system.

Telephone network 300 may comprise, for example, SSP 314, SSP 324, andSSP 344. SSP 314, SSP 324, and SSP 344 can be any suitable switches thatare commonly used in central offices to route calls. SSP 314 may beconnected to CPE 312 of subscriber 310. Similarly, SSP 324 may beconnected to CPE 322 of first caller 320, and SSP 344 may be connectedto CPE 342 of second caller 340. Although it is shown in FIG. 3 thatsubscriber 310, first caller 320, and second caller 340 are connected tothree different SSPs, it is possible that fewer than three SSPs may beused. CPE 312, CPE 322, and CPE 342 may be any suitable equipment. Forexample, CPE 312, CPE 322, and CPE 242 may be telephone sets. As itwould be apparent to one skilled in the art, the present invention maybe adapted for use in a wireless telephone network.

The system preferably comprises a database. For example, database 332may be provided so that it is accessible by conference bridge 330.Database 332 can comprise a look up table. The look up table preferablycontains subscriber information. The subscriber information may includethe status of the subscription account. For example, the subscriptioninformation may indicate when a call should be processed by conferencebridge 330.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating the steps involved in using thesecond preferred embodiment of the present invention. In step 402,service provider 300 can assign a disposable telephone number toconference bridge 330. In step 404, the disposable telephone number canbe provided to subscriber 310.

In step 406, subscriber information is obtained from subscriber 310. Thesubscriber information may include the time periods during whichconference bridge 330 should be made available to process calls. Forexample, the subscriber information may specifically provide thatconference bridge 310 must be available on a specific day during aspecific time period. The subscriber information may further compriseinformation related to payment for the service. For example, thesubscriber information may provide that each caller of conference bridge330 must pay for the service before the caller will be allowed to useconference bridge 330.

In step 408, subscriber 310 provides the disposable telephone number toa number of callers. For example, the disposable telephone number may beprovided to caller 320 and caller 340.

In step 410, when a person dials the disposable telephone number, thecall is received at a switch. The person may be subscriber 310, firstcaller 320, and/or second caller 340. In the specific embodiment shownin FIG. 3, a call from subscriber 310, first caller 320, and secondcaller 340 would be received by SSP 314, SSP 324, and SSP 344,respectively. Each of SSP 314, SSP 324, and SSP 344 can recognize thedisposable telephone number. Each of these SSPs can then route the callto conference bridge 330 in step 412.

In step 414, database 332 may be consulted. For example, conferencebridge 330 may be preprogrammed to check the subscriber informationrelated to the disposable telephone number.

In step 416, the call is processed depending on whether the subscriptionis active. If the subscription is active, then the caller dialing thedisposable telephone number may be connected to an available channel ofconference bridge 330 in step 422. If the subscription is not active,the process may be routed to step 418. In step 418, the caller may beasked if he or she would like to pay for the service. If the callerwishes to continue by making a payment, the payment is received in step420. The payment may be received, for example, by accepting the caller'scredit card number. In step 422, the caller may be connected to anavailable channel of conference bridge 330.

If in step 418 the caller does not want to pay for the service, theprocess goes to step 424 in which an announcement may be played. Theannouncement may be, for example, “You have decided to abandon thiscall. Good Bye.”

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing the system architecture of a thirdpreferred embodiment of the present invention. Telephone network 500 canbe an advanced intelligent network (AIN). Telephone network 500 maycomprise, among other components, SSP 514, SSP 524, and SCP 530. SCP 530may be a typical service control point in the MN. Signaling between SCP530 with SSP 514 and SSP 524 may be channeled through signaling system540. Signaling system 540 may be any suitable signaling system. In thepreferred embodiment, signaling system 540 may be Signaling SystemSeven, which is commonly known as SS7.

SCP 530 can access database 532. Database 532 preferably comprisessubscriber information. For example, subscriber information related toor associated with subscriber 510 may be stored in database 532. Thesubscriber information may contain a relationship linking the truetelephone number of subscriber 510 and a disposable telephone number ofthe present invention. A query from a service switching point thatcarries the disposable telephone number as the called number may beresponded by SCP 530 with the true telephone number as the called numberin the response.

SSP 514 preferably has communication with CPE 512 of subscriber 510.Similarly SSP 524 may have communication with CPE 522 of caller 520. CPE512 and CPE 522 may be telephone sets that can be used to make andreceive telephone calls. As it is understood, the present invention maybe adapted for a wireless telephone network.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating the steps involved in using the thirdpreferred embodiment of the present invention. In step 602, telephonenetwork 500 assigns a block of telephone numbers as disposable telephonenumbers. The disposable telephone number preferably has a common prefixor NPA. For example, the NPA 999 may be used so that all disposabletelephone numbers may have the 999-NXX-XXXX 10-digit format.

In step 604, telephone network 500 creates database 532 that isdedicated for the disposable telephone numbers. Database 532 may also beknown as the disposable telephone number database. Database 532 ispreferably accessible by SCP 530.

In step 606, telephone network 500 may establish a subscription accountwith subscriber 510. As part of the subscription account, subscriber 510may be provided with a disposable telephone number. The account may bemaintained by subscriber 510 based on any of several suitable paymentschemes. For example, subscriber 510 may pay telephone network 500 amonthly fee for as many disposable telephone numbers as subscriber 510wishes to have in a month. Subscriber 510 may also pay telephone network500 a fixed fee for each disposable telephone number. In addition,subscriber 510 may pay telephone network 500 based on the number ofcalls received using the disposable telephone number service.

In step 608, telephone network 500 updates database 532. For example,the disposable telephone number assigned to subscriber 510 may berelated to the true telephone number of subscriber 510 in a look uptable. The look up table may be stored in database 532. An example ofthe look up table may be similar to Table 1 described above.

In step 610, when caller 520 dials the disposable telephone number, SSP524 recognizes that the dialed number is a disposable telephone number.SSP 524 then launches a query to SCP 530. The query is preferably a TCAPmessage. The query may comprise, among other information, a callednumber field that contains the disposable telephone number as the callednumber.

In step 614, SCP 530 uses the called number in the query to look up thetrue telephone number in database 532. In step 616, SCP 530 furtherdetermines whether subscriber 510 has specific subscriber information indatabase 532.

In step 618, if the subscriber information in database 532 indicatesthat subscriber 510 does not want to receive calls at that time, theprocess goes to step 620. In step 620, an announcement may be played forcaller 520. The message may be, for example, “The subscriber of thedisposable telephone number you dialed does not receive calls at thistime.”

If in step 618 it was determined that the subscriber information indatabase 532 indicates that subscriber 510 wishes to receive calls atthe time caller 520 dials the disposable telephone number, the processgoes to step 622. In step 622, SCP 530 substitutes the true telephonenumber of subscriber 510 in the called number field for the disposabletelephone number.

In step 624, SCP 530 returns a response to SSP 524. The response ispreferably a TCAP message. The response comprises the true telephonenumber of subscriber 510 in the called number field.

In step 626, SSP 524 routes the call to the true telephone number. Inthis example, a call is established between caller 520 and subscriber510 via SSP 524 and SSP 514. As a result, subscriber 510 can receive acall from caller 520 without caller 520 ever knowing the true telephonenumber of subscriber 510. In a preferred embodiment, subscriber 510 maybe alerted of an incoming call that uses the disposable telephone numberby a distinctive ringing on CPE 512.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing the system architecture of afourth preferred embodiment the present invention. In this embodiment,telephone network 500 further comprises gateway 760 in addition to SSP514, SSP 524, SCP 530, and signaling system 540. Gateway 760 enables SCP530 to interact with non-MN systems. For example, gateway 760 can enableSCP 530 to interact with computer network 770. In the preferredembodiment, computer network 770 is the Internet. Through gateway 760,SCP 530 and computer network 770 may communicate or interact with eachother using known protocols. One example of suitable protocols is thetransmission control protocol/Internet protocol that is more commonlyknown as TCP/IP.

In addition to CPE 512, subscriber 510 can have computer 714 and modem716. Using computer 714 and modem 716, subscriber 510 can accesscomputer network 770. Through computer network 770, subscriber 510 canhave access to database 772. In the preferred embodiment, subscriber 510can edit his or her subscriber information that is contained in database772. SCP 530 may access database 772 as well. For example, SCP 530 mayaccess database 772 via gateway 760 and computer network 770,

Subscriber 510 can also communicate with caller 520 over computernetwork 770. For example, caller 520 can access computer network 770using computer 524 and modem 526. One example of communication betweensubscriber 510 and caller 520 over computer network 770 may be throughan Internet chat room. In addition to communication over computernetwork 770, caller 520 may contact subscriber 510 using CPE 522 throughtelephone network 500 as shown in FIG. 7.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating the steps involved in using thefourth preferred embodiment in accordance with the present invention.Considering a situation in which subscriber 510 and caller 520 are twoparticipants in an Internet chat room during a communication session.Subscriber 510 and caller 520 decide to have a live telephone voiceconversation.

In step 802, subscriber 510 may contact a service provider of thepresent invention. The service provider may be any business entity.Preferably, the service provider is a telephone company. The contact maybe made using a number of different methods. For example, subscriber 510may call the business office of the service provider. Preferably,subscriber 510 may go to a website of the service provider by entering auniform resource locator, e.g., www.chatonthephone.com, and be connectedto the website over computer network 770. An alternative might be aconventional interactive, menu-driven system that is accessible via thetelephone.

In step 804, subscriber 510 arranges for the payment of the disposabletelephone number service. Preferably, subscriber 510 can provide his orher credit number to the service provider. Other payment methods mayinclude charging the fees for the disposable telephone number as part ofsubscriber 510's telephone bill. In step 806, subscriber 510 provideshis or her true telephone number to which calls dialing an associateddisposable telephone number will be routed. The true telephone numbermay be, for example, 123-391-3333.

In step 808, the service provider provides the disposable telephonenumber to subscriber 510. The disposable telephone number may have 10digits in the format of NPA-NXX-XXXX. The disposable telephone numbermay be, for example, 999-444-1212. Preferably, the three digit 999 is adedicated NPA for disposable telephone number services. In the preferredembodiment, the service provider advertises the service of the presentinvention and the public is educated that all 999 telephone numbers aredisposable telephone numbers, just like all 800 telephone numbers arededicated as toll free numbers.

In step 810, the service provider relates the disposable telephonenumber to the true telephone number of subscriber 510. The relationshipbetween the disposable telephone number and the true telephone numbermay be established, for example, in a table or a database. For example,database 772 may be used to store the relationship between thedisposable telephone number and true telephone number. In database 772,the true telephone number 123-391-3333 is associated with the disposabletelephone number 999-444-1212.

Database 772 may be hereinafter referred to as the disposable numberdatabase. Database 772 may further comprise additional subscriberinformation. The additional subscriber information may comprise callrouting instructions. For example, the disposable number database maycomprise a specific time of day during which an announcement is playedto the caller when the call is received. The announcement may be, forexample, “You have reached the disposable telephone number service. Thedisposable telephone number you have dialed is effective from January 1to January 14. The subscriber of the disposable telephone number servicedoes not receive calls between 11 pm and 7 am.”

In step 812, subscriber 510 provides the disposable telephone number tocaller 520. If subscriber 510 and caller 520 were still online in theInternet chat room, subscriber 510 may provide the disposable telephonenumber to caller 520 during the Internet chat session.

In step 814, caller 520 dials the disposable telephone number999-444-1212 using CPE 522. In step 816, SSP 524 recognizes the999-444-1212 dial string as a disposable telephone number. SSP 524 cantherefore know that it has received a call intended for a subscriber ofthe service of the present invention. SSP 524 can then launch a query toSCP 530. The query may contain the disposable telephone number999-444-1212 in the called number field of the query.

In step 818, when SCP 530 receives the query, SCP 530 uses thedisposable telephone number or the called number to retrieve the truetelephone number from database 772. Through gateway 760, SCP 530 mayobtain the true telephone number from database 772 over computer network770 using TCP/IP.

In step 820, SCP 530 can generate or formulate a response to the query.The response may comprise the true telephone number in the called numberfield, replacing the disposable telephone number. In other words, SCP530 can replace 999-444-1212 in the called number field with123-391-3333. In step 822, SCP 530 provides the response to SSP 524. Instep 824, SSP 524 routes the call from caller 520 to subscriber 510 viaSSP 514.

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of a system architecture of the presentinvention. The present invention comprises routing device 930 anddatabase 932. Routing device 930 may be any suitable devices, includingthose mentioned in the specific embodiments described above. Forexamples, dedicated switch 130, conference bridge 330, and SCP 530 maybe used as routing device 930. In addition, telecommunications equipmentsuppliers such as Lucent Technologies and Nortel Networks may beprovided with appropriate requirements to make new packetized switchingdevices suitable for use as routing device 930.

Database 932 can be any suitable memory devices that can associatedisposable telephone numbers with true telephone numbers. Furthermore,database 932 may be used to store subscriber information as describedabove. Database 132, 332, 532, and 772 shown in FIGS. 1, 3, 5, and 7,respectively, are specific examples of database 932. Routing device 930and database 932 are preferably owned and operated by service provider900. As discussed above, service provider 900 may be a telephonecompany.

Subscriber 910 may have CPE 912. Subscriber 910 may use CPE 912 toobtain a disposable telephone number from service provider 900. Whencaller 920 dials the disposable telephone number using CPE 922, the callis routed to routing device 930. Routing device 930 can consult database932 for call routing instructions.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating the steps involved in using thepresent invention. In step 1002, service provider 900 creates adisposable telephone number database. The database created may bedatabase 932 that is connected to routing device 930, as shown in FIG.9.

In step 1004, service provider 900 accepts an application fromsubscriber 910 who wishes to have a disposable telephone number. In step1006, service provider 900 stores subscriber information in database932. The subscriber information includes the true telephone number ofsubscriber 910. Preferably, the true telephone number is associated witha disposable telephone number that subscriber 910 can disclose to caller920. In addition, the subscriber information may include subscriberrules. An example of a subscriber rule is a specific time period withinwhich subscriber 910 may not want to receive calls.

In step 1008, when caller 920 dials the disposable telephone number thathas been assigned to subscriber 910, service provider 900 detects thecall. Detection of the call may be done using any known methods. Forexample, the disposable telephone number may have a dedicated NPA aspart of the 10-digit telephone number. The call may be recognized by aswitch that is connected to the telephone line of caller 920.

In step 1010, the call is routed to routing device 930. In step 1012,database 932 is consulted. Using the disposable telephone number,subscriber information and/or subscriber rules for subscriber 910 may beretrieved from database 932. In step 1014, it may be determined whethersubscriber 910 wishes to accept the call. If the subscriber rules orsubscriber information indicates that subscriber 910 would accept thecall, the call is then processed in step 1016 in accordance with thesubscriber information. Otherwise, an announcement may be played tocaller 920 in step 1018. The announcement may be, for example, “Thesubscriber of this disposable telephone number does not accept calls atthis time. Please try again later.”

The foregoing disclosure of embodiments of the present invention hasbeen presented for purposes of illustration and description. It is notintended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise formsdisclosed. Many variations and modifications of the embodimentsdescribed herein will be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art inlight of the above disclosure. The scope of the invention is to bedefined only by the claims appended hereto, and by their equivalents.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A method, comprising: associating, by aserver, a conference bridge to a defined period of time of activation,after which the conference bridge associated with a disposable number isdeactivated; determining, by the server, an expiration of the conferencebridge for a day and time of the call; disposing of, by the server, thedisposable number in response to the expiration; receiving, by theserver after disposal of the disposable number, a call from a callingnumber to the disposable number associated with the conference bridge;determining, by the server, the conference bridge is inactive for a dateand time of the call to the disposable number; routing, by the server,the call to the conference bridge in response to the conference bridgebeing inactive; sending, by the server, a prompt to the calling numberto pay for the conference bridge in response to the conference bridgebeing inactive; receiving, by the server, an acknowledgment of a paymentfor the conference bridge; and authorizing, by the server, theconference bridge in response to the payment.
 2. The method of claim 1,further comprising retrieving subscription information associated withthe conference bridge.
 3. The method of claim 2, further comprisingcomparing the subscription information to the day and time of the call.4. The method of claim 1, further comprising processing the payment forthe conference bridge.
 5. The method of claim 1, further comprisingreceiving a credit card number as the payment for the conference bridge.6. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving the payment forthe conference bridge.
 7. The method of claim 1, further comprisingabandoning the conference bridge.
 8. A system, comprising: a processor;and a memory storing instructions that when executed cause the processorto perform operations, the operations comprising: associating adisposable number to a conference bridge and to a subscriber phonenumber; associating the conference bridge to a defined period of time ofactivation, after which the conference bridge is deactivated;determining an expiration of the conference bridge; disposing of thedisposable number in response to the expiration of the conferencebridge; processing, after disposal, a call to the disposable numberassigned to the conference bridge; determining the conference bridge isinactive for a date and time of the call to the disposable number;routing the call to the conference bridge in response to the conferencebridge being inactive; sending a prompt to a calling number of the call,the prompt requiring payment for a conference service in response to theconference bridge being inactive; and processing the conference serviceto the conference bridge in response to the payment.
 9. The method ofclaim 8, further comprising retrieving subscription informationassociated with the conference bridge.
 10. The method of claim 9,further comprising comparing the subscription information to the dateand time of the call.
 11. The method of claim 8, further comprisingprocessing the payment for the conference service.
 12. The method ofclaim 8, further comprising receiving a credit card number as thepayment for the conference service.
 13. The method of claim 8, furthercomprising receiving the payment for the conference service.
 14. Themethod of claim 8, further comprising abandoning the conference bridgein response to a declination of the payment.
 15. A memory device storinginstructions that when executed cause a computer to perform operations,the operations comprising: storing an association between a disposablenumber and information describing a conference bridge; associating theconference bridge to a defined period of time of activation, after whichthe conference bridge is deactivated; determining an expiration of theconference bridge; disposing of the disposable number in response to theexpiration; receiving, after disposal of the disposable number, a callfrom a calling number to the disposable number; determining theconference bridge is inactive for a date and time of the call to thedisposable number; routing the call to the conference bridge in responseto the conference bridge being inactive; sending a prompt to the callingnumber of the call, the prompt requiring payment for a conferenceservice in response to the conference bridge being inactive; andprocessing the conference service to the conference bridge in responseto the payment.
 16. The memory device of claim 15, wherein theoperations further comprise processing an announcement associated withthe disposable number.
 17. The memory device of claim 15, wherein theoperations further comprise processing a distinctive ring associatedwith the disposable number.
 18. The memory device of claim 15, whereinthe operations further comprise processing the payment.
 19. The memorydevice of claim 15, wherein the operations further comprise receiving acredit card number as the payment.
 20. The memory device of claim 19,wherein the operations further comprise processing a credit card numberas the payment.